Fadnavis welcomes SC decision to suspend HC order on Saibaba's acquittal

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis on Saturday welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to suspend the Bombay High Court's order of acquitting former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to suspend the Bombay High Court's order of acquitting former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba and others in a Maoist links case.

The top court on Saturday rejected Saibaba's request to order his release from jail due to his disability and health conditions and put him under house arrest after the Maharashtra government opposed the prayer, saying that nowadays, there is a new tendency of "urban naxals" to seek house arrest. The high court had acquitted Saibaba and others in the case on Friday.

Speaking to reporters at the Nagpur airport, Fadnavis said, "I am satisfied with the apex court's decision to suspend the high court order on professor G N Saibaba. Yesterday, I had said that the high court decision was surprising and shocking for us, because releasing a person on technical grounds, against whom there was ample evidence of directly helping Maoists, was wrong. Hence, we approached the SC yesterday itself."

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former chief minister said he was thankful to the top court for forming a bench on Friday and suspended the high court order.

"We will fight the legal battle ahead," he said, adding that the SC decision would provide a relief to the families of the policemen that were martyred in attacks by Naxalites.

More than eight years after his arrest, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had on Friday acquitted Saibaba in a Maoist links case for want of valid sanction for prosecution under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The HC also allowed the appeals filed by five other convicts, acquitting them of all charges.

Following the HC order, the prosecution had moved the apex court against the acquittal.

Saibaba, 52, is lodged at the Nagpur central jail following his arrest in May 2014.